BalinA specific Jew? no, possible FA A specific African? no, possible FA Are the bird-lovers a group? yes, with a slight FA cleared up below Is the specific hall relevant? to them, yes; for our purposes, not so much The hall in the board game Clue? no Deck the Halls? no, small ish Bruise your hand? er, whuh?

Woodworm... and the Jew said: "Is this some kinda joke?" which might have ended up helping him in this situation ;-)

Is there a wordplay going on? not that I know of

Would it work in a library? in theory, yes, but very unlikely Or a museum? ditto Do they love a particular kind of bird? several, in fact If so, does it belong to the Passeriformes? only one

GregoryuconnAre the Jew, the African, and the bird lovers all separate people (ie it isn't an African Jew who loves birds?) no, the Jew and the African are also members of the bird lovers group... and that clears up the slight FA in Balin's question above

BalinThe group of bird lovers - does it consist of only the Jew and African? Of one other person? Of two? Of quite a few more? this Is the exact number relevant? there are ten total in the group, though it's not essential for you to know this to solve the puzzle

Is it relevant that one is Jew and one is African? Are the rest Jews? Africans? Both? Something else? Is it relevant where this happens (where the hall is situated)? Does the group enter at the same time, or is there a time gap between different members' entry time? Like, e.g., the Jew enters in the 80s, the African in the 90s and a few years afterwards some other(s) enter.?

Is this a true story? Do we have to establish the identity of the Jew and of the African? Or what kind of hall that is? Something else?

RbrumaIs it relevant that one is Jew and one is African? yes Are the rest Jews? Africans? Both? Something else? the rest appear to be white and Christian, and there is still an FA floating about re: the Jew and African -- may take a little while to clear it up Is it relevant where this happens (where the hall is situated)? no Does the group enter at the same time, or is there a time gap between different members' entry time? all at the same time Like, e.g., the Jew enters in the 80s, the African in the 90s and a few years afterwards some other(s) enter.? so not this

Is this a true story? yep Do we have to establish the identity of the Jew and of the African? no, you need to know what the group as a whole is doing Or what kind of hall that is? this would help Something else?

Ten bird-lovers enter the hall. One is Jewish; one is African; eight are white Christians?

Would the puzzle scenario still work if it were three Sufi Muslims, six Hindus and a Sikh?

You say that they like several birds, yes? Do they love a finite number of species? [If so, insert list of integers between 1 and 3451.]?

Do they love some specimens more than others? Are the birds stuffed? Are they birds in the literal sense (members of the class Aves)? Not dolly birds, birds of a feather, people from Turkey, people who were just having a lark, golfers, New Zealanders, or any such linguistic jiggery-pokery?

Hmmm ... any albatrosses in there?

You said that the Jew might have fared better if he'd cracked a joke? So did something unpleasant befall the Jew? How about the African? How about the eight Christians? Did the eight Christians eat the Jew? Or do something unpleasant to him?

Sorry for the delay, folks... I haven't forgotten you; I have been mostly caught up with being stressed at work. Blech.

BalinIs this from a film? yope Is the Jew someone portraying a Jewish person? yes, essentially

WoodwormIs it fair to rephrase like this:

Ten bird-lovers enter the hall. One is Jewish; one is African; eight are white Christians? I see no problem with that

Would the puzzle scenario still work if it were three Sufi Muslims, six Hindus and a Sikh? actually, no

You say that they like several birds, yes? yes Do they love a finite number of species? [If so, insert list of integers between 1 and 3451.]? the number you're looking for is 6

Do they love some specimens more than others? it appears that way Are the birds stuffed? no Are they birds in the literal sense (members of the class Aves)? yes Not dolly birds, birds of a feather, people from Turkey, people who were just having a lark, golfers, New Zealanders, or any such linguistic jiggery-pokery?

Hmmm ... any albatrosses in there? no, sadly, and no dead men or elevators either

You said that the Jew might have fared better if he'd cracked a joke? So did something unpleasant befall the Jew? How about the African? How about the eight Christians? Did the eight Christians eat the Jew? Or do something unpleasant to him? no to all... my comment above was my badly worded hint that there is a fair amount of tongue-in-cheekness about the situation in question and the puzzle itself

PotatoWorking in the entertainment... So, are they three actors who are playing a Jew, an African and a bird lover respectively? well there are actually ten, and I wouldn't call them "actors," but they are in a sense portraying roles Or are they a Jew, an African and a bird lover in real life?

Is the scene from a comedy sketch? yope

Oh, and are any birds with them? no birds are present Are birds relevant?

Did the Jew say or do anything unpleasant? well, he DID interrupt the others while they were doing something Or anything that was interpreted as such? Are other people around, apart from the bird lovers? quite definitely

HINT (in white): Figuring out the hall will go a long way toward helping you solve.

BalinDeck the Halls? yope (previous question involving this should have the same answer -- that's a BLOOPER) Do they love seven swans a-swimming, six geese a-laying, four calling birds, three French hens, two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree? yep, although not as much as they should have...

And of course I just confused and combined 12 Days of Christmas and Deck the Halls. Whoops. "12 Days..." is mostly correct, but "Deck the Halls" is also involved, and this is not the full solution... see below

Is Christmahannukwanzaakah relevant? (With the Jew, the African, and the 12 Days of Christmas...) not specifically, although the situation in question might have been appropriate for such a celebration

On a personal note, I always though my brother and I were the only ones who used that term, but now I see it popping up more and more... I don't know if that makes me happy or depressed.

You're close, but you still need to figure out something more about the significance of the Jew and the African.

BalinWell, at Christmastime, Jews celebrate Hannukah, and Africans celebrate Kwanzaa...relevant? Hannukah, yes; Kwanzaa, no... keep in mind what you have found out about the bird lovers, and you still might want to clarify the kind of hall involved

BalinA Christmas concert? assume yes, or at the very least a "holiday" concert, I don't know how PC it had to be Singing? yes With instruments? no, relevantly Is a band playing? yope -- DOYD of band and playing A real band? a real group, yes Or one that is FYOI? Wild guess: TSO? nyet

BalinIs the group a choir? I suppose you could call them that, but they're more often known as a (type of music they sing) group A professional choir? at the time, no Mormon Tabernacle Choir? no to this

Are they singing spirituals? if you consider holiday songs spirituals, yes with an ish; for the traditional definition of spiritual, no Rugby songs? no Weird transliterations of the Welsh anthem involving cruelty to domestic fowl? uhhh... no ::backs away slowly:: (oops ... wrong puzzle) ;-)

So they are a group of carol singers, yes? And is this puzzle connected to pluralism/ multiculturalism/ political correctness in some way? Quotas? Does it matter what carols are being sung? Do they sing them without reference to Jesus? Is the Jew Bob Dylan, whose Christmas album was an unlikely hit in 2009? Are the Jew and African also singing? Are they being recorded? Anything to do with Alan Partridge?

This must be in reference to their version of "Twelve Days of Christmas", which mixes in a bunch of other Christmas carols, then sneaks in a bit of "I Have a Little Dreidel" before heading off into Toto's "Africa" - this it?

WoodwormSo they are a group of carol singers, yes? not in the traditional sense -- going door to door, demanding figgy pudding, etc. And is this puzzle connected to pluralism/ multiculturalism/ political correctness in some way? yes Quotas? no Does it matter what carols are being sung? some of them, yes -- help is below Do they sing them without reference to Jesus? yes, but not relevant Is the Jew Bob Dylan, whose Christmas album was an unlikely hit in 2009? no Are the Jew and African also singing? yes Are they being recorded? yes Anything to do with Alan Partridge? not that I'm aware

Balin A cappella group - Straight No Chaser? that's the one!

a-HA!!! I've got it...

This must be in reference to their version of "Twelve Days of Christmas", which mixes in a bunch of other Christmas carols, then sneaks in a bit of "I Have a Little Dreidel" before heading off into Toto's "Africa" - this it? either inspiration or Google has struck! You're entirely correct.

*******SPOILER******** Straight No Chaser was a group of ten a capella singers who attended Indiana University together in the late 1990s. In 2008, long after they all went their separate ways, one of the members posted a video of a performance they did ten years prior (while still in college) of a comedic riff on "Twelve Days..." It mixed in a number of different carols, but two of the most memorable moments occurred when one member interrupted all the others to break out in "I Have a Little Dreidel" and the final portion of the video, which brings in Toto's famous song "Africa" (and draws attention to the group's sole African American member). Originally, the video was posted to YouTube only for the former members to watch and laugh at, but it then went viral. The group was offered a recording contract by a major label, ten years after their first hit was recorded!

Oh, and the title was a reference to the fact that Christmas carols could be considered spiritual songs, depending on the content, but more to the fact that the group's name is a way of ordering your alcohol (or spirits) ;-)

Congrats to Balin, who worked on most of it by himself, to Woodworm for making some major steps, and to everyone else who helped!